If you haven’t been over to Tayari Jones’s blog, you’re missing out. I haven’t gotten to read her novels yet, although they’re on my read-after-PhD-exams list. But it seems like just about every time I stop by her blog, … Read more

Today, I treat you to a favorite poem by Mark Strand, “Keeping Things Whole.” It goes everywhere with me in the pocket of my writer’s notebook. It’s mostly memorized. I still remember where I was sitting when I first read … Read more

Rainer Maria Rilke has been one of my favorite poets for a long time. Recently as I was digging through an old writer’s notebook (from 4 years ago), I came across this list of advice I gathered from Letters to … Read more

“Productive” and “procrastination” may seem like words that don’t belong in the same time zone, much less the same sentence, but actually purposeful procrastination lets me squeeze out more productivity than I could otherwise manage with my maxed-out brain cells … Read more

Here’s a game I sometimes play to think about what’s going on with a character. I ask myself, “What does [insert character’s name here] want?” Then I write down what I think they want. Then I say to myself, “Now, come … Read more

Are the Naomis of the world especially sensual? I ask because I just noticed that the name “Naomi” is “I moan” backwards.

If I were to have a character named Naomi, I don’t think I could resist making something out … Read more

So this is one of my lists of possible titles for What Can’t Wait. Lots of clunkers here, but that’s part of the process.

How did I finally choose the title? I did a lot of title-generating exercised, asked friends … Read more

This pie chart… It’s so true it’s scary. Cruise over to Finding Wonderland to find more Toon Thursday treasures. Only don’t follow the link if you should be writing.

If you should be writing…. GO WRITE.

Once upon a time, I was a teenager who had a garage darkroom. I read Margaret Atwood by that red light. The pages of my copy of The Handmaid’s Tale are curled up at the edges from being turned by … Read more

The zero draft is how I trick myself into writing when it seems too scary to start THE novel. It’s all the exploratory writing that I do just to feel my way into the project. While I don’t make elaborate … Read more